Christmas greetings to all those reading the blog around the world - it is still holidays here and i have to apologise for not sending this out earlier but I have been in an internet black spot (my parents' house) for the past six days.

The good news is that my bag arrived from Iceland Air - what lovely people, they had not lost it or forgotten I was waiting for it. Everything is intact and I have learnt a valuable lesson about what to take as hand luggage next time. Or at least, I hope I have learnt the lesson.My boyfriend got me a great present - a GPS tracking device so that he (and the rest of the world) will be able to follow me on my travels and have a rough idea of where I am when I'm not at home.

My Christmas Day involved not only opening presents but I also headed down to the beach and took part in the annual fancy dress swim in the sea. A bracing experience it was too. Particularly as the last swim I'd had was at the Yucatan where the sea temperature was 25 degrees (centigrade) and down here in Cornwall it's more like 8 degrees if I'm lucky.
A brief but memorable dip.